Mail-box



June 20, 1933. J. HELM 1,914,636

MAIL BOX Filed NOV. 12, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 l 1'4 if; 1'5 5, 3. a

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J. HELM MAIL BOX June 20, 1933.

Filed Nov. 12, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I all/Illi J. HELM MAIL BOX June 20, 1933.

Filed NOV. 12, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1' nvena Jan 15327, 33 a Patented June 20, 1933 TE1 TATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN HELIYI, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE HELM COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A. CORPORATION OF MISSOURI MAIL-BOX Application filed November 12, 1928.

This invention relates to mail receptacles and more particularly to multiple compartment boxes for installation in apartment houses or multiple family dwellings and oflice 5 buildings, and the like, for the distribution and delivery of mail separately to the respective tenants.

The objects of the invention are to produce a simple and compact, yetvconvenient and practical structure, which is easily manufactured andinstalled, and the respective compartments of which are sufliciently capacious to receive bulky matter, such as newspapers,

the so-called popular, Weeklies and other peri odica s, and parcels and packages and the like of reasonable size, as well as ordinary letters and other regular mail matter enclosed in the usualenvelopes; to minimize the labor and time of the postman in making his deliveries; Q and to attain certain other advantages as will more fully appear in the following description.

The invention consists in the novel structure and in the parts and combinations and arrangements of parts thereof as hereinafter described and afterwards pointed out with particularity in the appended claims.

Inthe accompanying drawings forming part of thisspecification and illustrating a practical adaptation of the 1nvent1on Figure 1 is a view in front elevation, por tions of the supporting frame being broken away or shown in section to show the structural features thereof, and a portion of the master .door'being broken away and two of the individual compartment doors beingremoved to disclose the interior features of the compartments Figure 2 isa vertical section taken on or about the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken on or about the-line33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary rear view of the master door with one of the individual compartment doors in place on the common hinge rod thereof;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary rear View of the supporting frame showing the details of the corner structure thereof;

Figure 6 is a view on an enlarged scale,

Serial No. 318,790.

partly in section and partly in elevation, showing the details of the mounting of the lock on the master door and the correlation of the lock to the supporting frame member, which latter is shown in cross section in the region of the keeper opening for the lock bolt;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view showing the master door and one of the individual compartment doors in vertical section in the region of their meeting hinged ends, both of said doors being in closed position;

F igure 8 is a similar View showing the master door in opened position; and

Figure 9 is a similar view showing the individual compartment door in opened position.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates generally the supporting body frame of the structure, the vertical side members 2 and the horizontal top and bottom members 3, 4, respectively, of which are channel shape in cross section, and whose inner flanges 5 are preferably somewhat wider than their outer flanges 6, as shown in the drawings.

Secured within the frame 1, as by electrical spot-welding or other desirable and approved means of fastening, to the flanges 5 of the frame members 2, 3 and 4:, is a group or battery of separate compartment boxes 7 comprising the body of the receptacle. These boXes are preferably made of sheet metal, the side walls 8 and rear walls 9 thereof being formed of a single sheet, and the top and bottom walls 10, 11, respective ly, comprising separate marginally flanged plates which are preferably spot-welded to the adjacent end portions of the side and rear walls, although, obviously, the fastening may be done by rivetting or otherwise; and, in this connection, it may be here stated that, where the term spotwvelding is referred to hereinafter throughout the specification, the same is not intended as a limitation in the invention, but merely as an expression of a desirable and present day practical method of securing the parts together.

In addition to securing the boxes 7 to the flanges 5 of the supporting frame 1, the adjoining side walls of the boxes are also preferably spot-welded together at intervals, so as to give rigidity to the entire structure; and, to further stiffen the structure, the forward edge portions of the side walls 8 of the boxes are folded back or hemmed, as at 12, the fold being either upon the inside of the respective boxes, as shown, or upon the outside thereof, as may be desired. This heinming of the walls 8, in addition to stiffening the structure, avoids the presentation of sharp edges which might injure the hand of the postman in placing the mail in the receptacle or that of the recipient of the mail in taking it from the receptacle.

The supporting frame 1 may be constructed in any suitable manner, but it is preferable to attach the end portions of the side members 2 and the top and bottom members 3, 4, thereof toright angular corner members 13, as shown more clearly in Figures 1 and 5 of the drawings. As shown, each member 13 comprises a rectangular, boxlike, flanged corner portion 14 from which extend the two arms 15' which are channel shape in cross section, the transverse overall dimension of the respective arms being such that they fit in the frame members 2, 3 and 4, snugly between the flanges 5 and 6 thereof, and the parts being secured rigidly together, preferably by spot-welding.

In practice, the receptacle may comprise any desirable number of the individual compartments 7 according to the requirements where installed; but, for the purposes of merely illustrating the features of the invention, the structure shown in the drawings includes a group or battery of three individual compartments. As shown, these compartments are arranged parallel with each other in the supporting frame 1, extend from the top to the bottom of the frame, and are open at the front throughout their entire lengths except when closed by the doors now to be described.

Extending transversely through the forward portions of the boxes 7, at a position about midway between the top and bottom thereof, is a rod or shaft 16 whose end portions are riveted or otherwise secured in the flanges 5 of the side members 2 of the supporting frame 1, as at 17, and best shown in Figure 1 of of the drawings.

Swingably supported on the rod 16, as by hinge members 18 which are secured to its lower marginal portion, as by spot-welding or other suitable means, is a master door 19 which is provided to cover the upper portion of the entire group or battery of individual compartments 7, and it is provided with a lock 20 which is an official look as authorized by or is the property of the Post Oflice Department and being opened only by the postman or other representative of the Department.

Preferably, the door 19 is provided with one of the hinges 18 within each of the compartments 7; and said hinges preferably comprise rectangular intermediate body portions or plates which are rigidly secured to the inner face of the door, said hinges further having right angular end extensions or cars 21 which are apertured and fitted rotatably on the rod 16. Said rod 16 being carried through apertures provided therefor in the side walls 8 of the boxes 7 and thereby supported at intervals intermediate its ends, a relatively rigid and stable reinforcement and hinged support is provided for the lower marginal portion of the door 19 which serves to materially revent the warping and accidental distortion thereof under natural and regular conditions during its use and also makes it quite impossible or at least rather difficult to forcibly pry the door open.

As hereinbefore stated, the lock 20 is to be an official lock, and it may be of any approved structure. It is, therefore, only illustrated conventionally in the drawings, except as to certain external features constituting part of the present invention and now to be described. As shown, the body casing of the lock may be rectangular, and from the upper end thereof the locking bolt 22 may be proiected into and withdrawn from a keeper opening 23 provided therefor in the flange 5 of the upper member 3 of the supporting frame 1, by a regular master key being inserted in a key-receiving slot 24 of the lock, which slot, as shown, is located in a cylindrical extension 25 of the lock body casing extending outward through an aperture provided therefor in the door 19.

Extending across the inner face of the door 19, near the upper margin thereof, is a reinforcing element 26, preferably a sheet metal stamping having a longitudinal embossment 27 affording a hollow rib which gives rigidity to the element and also aflording a support for the lock 20, said element being preferably spot-welded to the door. The door is further provided with inwardly extending marginal flanges 28, 29, respective ly at its top and sides, and these flanges, together with said reinforcement 26, materially strengthen the door so as to prevent warping thereof and effectively resist any effort to pry it open.

Below the element 26 is a lock-supporting member 30 of the same cross section as the former but being shorter in length. The hollow ribbed portion 27 of the element 26 and the similar port on 31 of the member 30 are each provided with apertures through which are projected bolts 32 which are extended through registering openings in the body casing of the lock 20, said bolts preferably made arcuate, asshown in: Figures 2, 7, 8

19 its loweredge portion is held some dis-.

'havingsquare'or other polygonal heads 33 l,

doors, are-ofi'set: bracket-plates ornpocket fitting within the channels afiorded by the ribs 'QTand 31 of the members 26 and 30, r

specti-vely, so as to prevent thebolts from turning when the nuts 34 are appl ed to the threaded end positions thereofto secure the lock in place. Preferably, the nuts 34 are providedwith tapered portions '35 to'entercorresponding recesses or. counterbores in the lock body casing, as shown more clearly in Figure 6 of the drawings.

*Each of the individualcompartments 7 is provided with a door 36 having inwardly-er:- tending side marginalfianges'37 which enter betweenthe side walls of'the compartments swingably supported. 1 To add rig dity to the doors 36 the side flanges'thereof are preferably rebent upon themselves or hemmed in a manner similar to theportions 12 of the compartment walls 8, and asthe flanges 3. of-each door 36'straddles'the ear of its companion and cooperating hinge 18 of the master door 19, thedoors 36 are held against shifting laterally on the rod 16 out of proper working relation to their respective compartments 7 in open ng and closing when the master door is closed, and by'the same effect the master door is held against shifting out of its true working relation in opening and closing when one or all of the individual doors are closed.

The ears 21 of the hinges 18 are preferably and 9 of the drawings, toprovide a recess 38 in eacii, in order to make clearance for the upper edge portions of the door 36 to permit the door 19 to swing open, said recessed portions 38 of the hinges 18 engaging the edges of the doors 36, which latter serveas limiting stops whereby the door 19 is supported in an inclinedposition when fully open,-as shown in Figure 8, in which position of said door tance away from the doors 36 so as-not to mar the outer faces of the latter. By this provision, also, the door 19 being closed, the

recessed portions 38 of the hinges 18 permit the opening of the doors 36, and by the engagement of the upper edges of the doors with the hinges the upward swinging movement of the doors is limited so that theirdoors 36 are also provided with apertures '41" through which to see if any mail is depositec in the compartments. So, too, the doors 36 are provided with rectangular sight openings;

the individual doors 36, just members 43 to receive and support name .cards :or plates; and on. the: inner faces of the-rear walls 9 ofthei compartments 7 provision is also made for supporting name cards or plates 44, the latter. being; located high enough in the compartments to be readily 0bserved when the master door-.19 is opened, said cards or plates 44 to have thereon the names of the parties whose mail is to be delivered into the respective compartments. As

shown, the support for. the cards or plates 44 comprises two triangular lower corner brackets 45 and two. cooperating upper slide-ways 46, between which latter the respective cards orplates- 44 may .be'slide into and out of the holder. Obviously, these members 45 and 46 may-beformed integrally with the wall 9 by slitting and embossing it, or they made separately from the wall and soldered, welded or otherwise secured thereto according to any approved or desirable method.

Preferably, as shown, a sli 'ht space 47 is the master door 19 and the upper-edges of suiiicient to permit the passage of a calling card or the like therethrough into the respective compartments 7 but through which the contents of the compartments .cannot be. easily abstracted.

' To aii ord limiting stops for the lower edge portions of the doors 36 when they are closed,

it is preferable to'slit andstrike up the metal of the flange 5 of the lower supporting frame member 4, thus producing arcuate raised portions or abutments 48. The middle abutment 4-8 for each door 36,-in addition to serving as a limiting stop when closing the door, fur-" ther' functions-as a keeper behind 'whichthe locking bolt 49 of the lock 39 engages to hold the door closed. Similar abutments 50 for the master door19 are struck downward from region where the lock 20 is located on the door. That isto say, there are none of the abutments 50 at the middle of the frame member 3 for a distance about equalto the width of the middle compartment 7. This is to makeclearan ce for. the lock body casing when the door 19 is closed; and to provide further clearance for the reinforcing element 26 which extends entirely across the door 19, the forward upper portions 51 of the, dividing walls 8 ofthe compartments are notched rectangularly, asat 52, for a distance downward from the tops of the compartmentsjust suflicient to clear the lower edge of the reinforcement and to a. depth sufficient toclear the hollow ribbedportion 27 of the reinforcement (see Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings).

' Obviously, the entire structure and separate parts thereof'admit of'considerable modmay be' provided between'the meeting lower edge of the'flange 5 of the upper frame member 3,

there being none, however, in theimmediate V-receiving opening common ification and alteration without in the least departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The. invention, therefore, is not limited to the specific construction and/arrangement shown in the accompanying drawings.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mail receptacle, a battery of parallel arranged, vertically elongated, individual, open front compartments, said compartments being adjoined and separated by partitions, a master door covering the upper portions of said compartments, and individual doors covering the lower portions of the respective compartments, said master and individual doors cooperating with edges of the partitions to close the compartments, the meeting ends of said master and individual doors being spaced apart to afford a continuous transverse, relatively narrow, slotted to the respective individual compartments. 7

2. In a mail receptacle, a battery of parallel arranged, individual, open front com partments, a single hinge-supporting shaft extending transversely across the front portions of the compartments and substantially midway between the tops and bottoms thereof, hinge elements having forwardly recessed ears pivotally mounted on said shaft, there being one of said hinge elements coordinated within each of said compartments, a master door covering the upper portions of said compartments and being secured at its lower end portion to said hinge elements, and individual doors covering the lower portions of said compartments, said individual doors being pivotally mounted at their upper end portions on said hinge-supporting shaft in cooperative relation to the respective hinge elements thereon, the forwardly recessed portions of the ears of said hinge elements cooperating with the upper ends of said individual doors, when said doors are in closed position, to afford a limiting stop for the master door when in its opened position, and also a limiting stop for the respective individual doors when in their opened positions, the master door being closed.

3. In a mail box structure, a front closure comprising an upper door and a cooperating lower door, said doors being hingedly supported at their meeting end portions, to swing about a common axis, the supporting means comprising an axle elementon which one of the doors is directly mounted, and a hinge element secured to the other door on the inner face thereof and being swingably mounted on said axle element, said hinge element having a forward recessed portion in correlation to the adjacent end of the directly mounted door on the axle element whereby to permit either door toswing open when the other door is closed and affording acent to its end meeting the other door, said hinge element having an inwardly offset arcuate supporting arm pivotally mounted to swing about a transverse axis, and the other door being mounted at its meeting end portion swingably about the same axis but separately from said hinge element, the adj acent end portion of said last mentioned door being capable of cooperative engagement with the recessed forward portion of said'arcuate arm of said hinge element whereby to afford a limiting stop for either door in its opened position, the other door being closed.

5. In a mail box, a closure comprising a door hingedly supported at one end and having inturned marginal flanges, an elongated and relatively narrow reinforcing element secured on the inner face of the door adjacent to the end opposite to that at which it is hinged, said element extending substantially the entire width of the door and having an embossed longitudinal rib provided with apertures near its middle, bolts having ing their heads located within said rib and their stems projected through the apertures thereof, an apertured lock body mounted on said bolts, and nuts on said bolts for securing said lock body in place thereon.

6. In a mail receptacle, a casing divided by partitions providing adjoining individual compartments, a master door common to all of the compartments and individual doors for the respective compartments, the meeting end portions of said master and individual doors being hingedly mounted in restricted spaced relation, the space between said master door and said individual doors affording a continuous slot common to all of the compartments whereby each compartment is'provided with a restricted receiving opening in the closed condition of said master and individual doors.

JOHN HELM.

one of said doors having a hinge: 

